IWISH to express my disgust at the Bolton Library Authority's decision to open Harwood Library for an experimental period on Sundays.

The main victims of Sunday trading are the children, particularly if they belong to a one-parent family and that parent has to work on a Sunday. Unless of course the parent has the Saturday off, thus giving at least one day over the weekend when the parent and the children can have quality time together.

Sunday is a day when families often get together, and if one member has to work to staff a library, such social gatherings are impossible.

In Britain today when the unity of the family is often being destroyed, it is surely necessary to do all in one's power to preserve the family unit.

If this experiment is judged to be a success, then it is obvious that more of the town's libraries will open on the Sabbath.

When is this trend going to end? Are banks, building societies and travel agencies going to open, with the risk of more family units being deprived of gathering together on the day when most people can be sure of being together?

Philip Hayworth

(Retired chief cataloguer -- Bolton public libraries)

Mornington Road

Bolton